Flash News

TREE NEWS update: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Europe remains always willing to hold talks on the Ukraine conflict. The remark, delivered as a statement on the war, did not specify any new format, timetable or conditions for negotiations. It restates Europe’s openness to dialogue without announcing a concrete initiative.

TREE NEWS reports: JPMorgan Asset Management has assigned bitcoin a 10% base case in its 2027 long-term return outlook, marking the first time the firm has given the asset a range of outcomes. The report’s authors described bitcoin as a speculative asset that does not yet function as a portfolio diversifier and said it has no clear portfolio role.

TREE NEWS reports: France’s 10-year government bond yield touched 5% on [date], the first time it has reached that level since 2002. The move marks a sharp repricing of French sovereign risk and a milestone for euro-area debt markets.

TREE NEWS update: Russian President Vladimir Putin has begun a meeting with US special envoy Steve Witkoff, Interfax reported. No further details on the agenda, location or participants were immediately available. The meeting marks the latest round of direct US-Russia contacts.

TREE NEWS update: Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Russia could fully restore diesel exports before the end of the year. The remark points to a possible removal of remaining restrictions on diesel shipments abroad, though no timeline or volume figure was given.

TREE NEWS update: The first cargo of Russian diesel destined for the United States is scheduled to depart on October 22, Russian media reported. The shipment marks the first such export of Russian diesel to the US, with no further details on volume, port or buyer given.

TREE NEWS reports: London Metal Exchange nickel prices rose as much as 2.7% on Monday, breaking above $16,000 a tonne and extending a rebound from a nine-month low touched last Thursday. The move marks a sharp reversal for the metal, which had slid to its weakest level in nine months before the latest gains.

TREE NEWS update: Western Mining reported net profit attributable to shareholders of 6.789 billion yuan for the first three quarters of 2026, up 130.50% year on year, on revenue of 59.788 billion yuan, which rose 23.42%. Third-quarter net profit reached 2.62 billion yuan, up 143.48%, and total profit for the nine months was 11.134 billion yuan, up 86.68%. The company attributed the growth to higher year-on-year prices for copper and zinc and its gold- and silver-bearing products.

TREE NEWS reports: The Bank of Japan will evaluate at next week’s policy meeting whether underlying inflation has reached its 2% target, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday. Such a determination would mark a symbolic turning point, signaling the central bank is moving away from the long-standing monetary policy stance aimed at fighting deflation. The BOJ first set its 2% inflation target in January 2013.

TREE NEWS update: Temasek and GIC denied allegations by former Indonesian trade minister Muhammad Lutfi that the two Singapore state investors influenced MSCI to pressure Indonesia over market governance. MSCI said last week that Indonesia would likely be removed from its global indexes unless governance improves significantly, a warning that triggered the country’s biggest stock market decline since the 1998 Asian financial crisis.

TREE NEWS update: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that in the best case the European Union will not need to use its new trade instrument, signaling the bloc hopes to avoid escalating trade tensions. He made the remark without specifying which tool or under what conditions it might be deployed. The comment comes amid ongoing EU trade policy discussions.

TREE NEWS reports: The UK’s DCLG house price index rose 0.9% year-on-year in August, slowing from a 1.4% annual increase in the previous reading. The August figure marks a deceleration in annual house price growth compared with the prior period.

TREE NEWS reports: Completed, move-in-ready homes now account for about 50% of new residential supply in Guangzhou, as developers market finished projects to win over hesitant buyers. At the CRCC·CMG·Xipai Tianhe Xu project in Tianhe district, most buildings have topped out and roughly 36,000 square meters of community landscaping is taking shape, with visible progress helping convert buyer interest into faster purchase decisions.

TREE NEWS update: A tanker was struck by an unidentified projectile and caught fire, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said. The fire has been extinguished. No further details were immediately available.

TREE NEWS update: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said a wave of protectionism is causing trouble for global trade, flagging the risk to cross-border commerce. The remark, delivered without further detail, puts a major European economy’s leader on record against rising trade barriers. No specific policies, countries or figures were cited.

TREE NEWS update: China’s State Council Information Office held a press conference on Tuesday on the 15th Five-Year Plan, where National Fire and Rescue Administration officials said the country will accelerate revisions to fire-safety laws and regulations. The plan focuses on boosting four capabilities — urban and rural firefighting, forest and grassland fire suppression, special disaster rescue and aviation rescue — and on developing equipment for extreme scenarios including high-altitude cold regions, deep-water dense forests, long tunnels, high-rise basements, toxic corrosion and explosive radiation. By 2030, a national fire and rescue force system with Chinese characteristics should be basically built, with comprehensive all-hazard rescue capability greatly enhanced.

TREE NEWS reports: The Bank of Japan will assess at next week’s policy meeting whether underlying inflation has reached its 2% target, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday. Reaching the goal would mark a symbolic judgment that Japan has moved past its long-running battle with deflation.

TREE NEWS reports: UK consumer prices rose 3.5% in the 12 months to September, up from 3.1% in August and above economists’ 3.4% forecast, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday. Motor fuel costs drove the increase, with diesel hitting a record in late September as international oil topped $100 a barrel. Services inflation, a gauge of domestic price pressure, reached 3.7%. Markets widely expect the Bank of England to raise borrowing costs at its next meeting on Nov. 5, its first hike since 2023.

TREE NEWS update: US President Trump said on social media on the 20th that he will spend more than $400 million on campaigning for his Republican Party ahead of November’s congressional midterm elections. Trump called it the “most important midterm election in American history” and said supporting Republican candidates was his “great honor.” He did not disclose the source of the $400 million. The pro-Trump super PAC MAGA Inc. holds a roughly comparable amount of funds, the Financial Times reported.

TREE NEWS update: The Seoul High Court on the 21st sentenced former Justice Minister Park Sung-jae to nine years in prison in the appellate trial of his insurrection involvement case. The first-instance court had sentenced him to 25 years, and the special prosecution team investigating the case had sought to uphold that 25-year term in the appeal.